The Vermont Secretary of State’s Office of Professional Regulation (“OPR”) recently adopted administrative rules for notaries public that are effective on February 26, 2025.
The administrative rules, published by the OPR, create standards for special endorsements to notaries public to perform notarial acts in-person on electronic records and for remotely located individuals on electronic records. The new rules provide standards that specify acceptable methods for performing notarial acts, including identification of individuals, personal appearance, completion of the notarial certificate, remote notarization, and recording notarial acts.
Commissioned notaries public may only perform notarial acts on tangible records for people appearing physically before them unless they obtain a Special Endorsement as specified in VT ADC 20-4-23:6. A Special Endorsement is required to perform in-person notarial acts on electronic records and remote notarial acts on electronic records.
Vermont initially put emergency rules in place to allow electronic notarizations in March 2020, in order to facilitate the performance of essential transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 22, Act 171 was passed to allow for remote notarizations, but emergency rules were kept in place until administrative rules could be adopted to implement Act 171. The latest emergency rules were published by the OCR in March 2024, and later extended through February 26, 2025 by Rule 24-E07.
The emergency rules also required a notary to have a special endorsement to perform in-person electronic notarizations in accordance with 26 V.S.A. § 5364, and remote online notarizations under Part 4 of the Emergency Rules for Remote and Electronic Notarial Acts. For notaries that already hold an existing special endorsement under the emergency rules, it will be automatically converted to the special endorsement required under the new administrative rules without any action needed.
DocMagic currently provides notary certificates with the language required for electronic notarizations in Vermont and will continue to do so as applicable. The electronic notary certificates are required to state that “the notarial act was performed using communication technology.”
